RogerBW's Blog

Some trailers I've seen recently, and my thoughts on them. (Links are to youtube. Opinions are thoroughly personal. Calibration: I want a trailer to tell me what's different about this film; the marketers want it to tell me why it's like all the others…)

Don't Worry Darling: a bit The Right Stuff, an interesting angle on the conspiracy, but I suspect for me it'll stand or fall by what the conspiracy actually turns out to be.

Weird - The Al Yankovic Story (Teaser): doesn't drag me in, but doesn't repel me either, so that's a good start.

Bitterbrush: so is the point "people still do this" or "women do this"?

Easter Sunday: Generic Ethnics are generic.

Crimes of the Future (Red Band): doesn't add a great deal to the teaser, but it looks as though it has some good visuals and decent acting.

Father of the Bride: do you have anything original to say about father-daughter relationships, or indeed anything else, that wasn't being said fifty years ago? Or is that the point?

Avatar - The Way of Water (Teaser): I felt no enthusiasm for the original. I remember the Cameron who made The Terminator and Aliens; the one who made Titanic and Avatar is just cranking out whatever will push the audience's buttons. Also, this looks terrible.

Hustle: why do I care about generic people in generic sports movie?

Cha Cha Real Smooth: I've drunk poitín that was smoother than this. (Also, writer director producer star? This rarely works well.)

Resurrection (Teaser): I like the atmosphere built up here, but because it's a horror film we know it will go wrong in the most dreary and predictable manner. Maybe Hall will save it.

Brian and Charles: a bit comedy-Frankenstein; might work but it doesn't look subtle.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande: if this gets out of the terminal cringe it looks as though it'll be because of Emma Thompson.

Jerry & Marge Go Large: …but any real gambling operation would spot the winners and change the game. As the state lotteries did, eventually (though not as soon as a casino would have). If the people were more appealing and less stereotypical, I might not care as much…

Prey (Teaser): ripping off The Most Dangerous Game (and Predator) is to be done with respect.

Spiderhead: it all looks very straightforward and predictable. Good acting might make up for that.

White Elephant: at least time Bruce is the evil boss rather than the guy who doesn't do that any more like his last umpteen roles. But it looks like pretty much the same film he always does apart from that.

Bros (Red Band): whiny whiny whiny motormouth. Yay.

The Forgiven: when I see Ralph Fiennes looking like that in the desert I think The English Patient, and not in a good way. But basically I don't care about anyone here and so it doesn't grab me.

Three Thousand Years of Longing: whereas this has an energy about it that should be a lovely balance to those superb leads. Yes, I'm actually feeling enthusiastic about this.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One: as a fan of the original TV show I've never liked the way the film series turned into generic action romps. Also, the frigging music is meant to be in 5/4 not 8/8, which summarises in miniature how all the show's distinctiveness was stripped away. Nothing to say that all the other action films haven't already said, only bigger. Maybe.

Moonage Daydream (Teaser): "an immersive cinematic experience" looks about right: this will be a film to wallow in rather than to watch.

Vengeance: might be something to it, though it comes over as very heavy-handed.

Down With the King: I love what I see of Gibbs here. And this looks as though it isn't going to descend into generic hillbilly horror violence. Seems quite promising.

Rubikon: it's all a bit obvious but it might be fun. I make that three separate threatened airlockings, so I hope the film has more up its sleeve than that.

The Gray Man: oh right, more secret unaccountable operatives and manly men being manly. Meh. Doesn't look as though it has anything new to say.

Thor - Love and Thunder: I'm sure this isn't the place to start with Marvel films. Very pretty but what isn't Heroic is basic comedy of embarrassment, so.

Beast: at the start I thought it might be interesting. But no, yet another civilised guy has to learn to be violent to survive, ho hum.

Mr. Malcolm's List: I'm not falling for it at once, but there's promise here, and I like the leads.

Devotion (Teaser): with respect, anyone can do zoomy shooty with modern CGI. Show me the bit that isn't that.